Apple has filed a new patent lawsuit against rival Samsung, accusing the company of copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad for its own Galaxy-branded smartphone and tablet products.

The suit, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, claims the South Korean electronics company copied Apple's mobile devices with products like the Galaxy S, Nexus S and Epic 4G smartphone, as well as the Galaxy Tab touchscreen tablet.

Apple has accused Samsung of violating patents it owns related to the design and creation of the iPhone and iPad. Last September, APC observed that Samsung's Galaxy Tab accessories were so similar to the iPad that the site said, "we can feel an Apple lawsuit coming on."

"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," the complaint reads.

The growing rivalry between Samsung and Apple is complex, because Apple is also the largest customer of Samsung, with a reported $7.8 billion in purchases planned for 2011. Samsung builds the custom chips used by Apple in devices like the iPhone and iPad, and also supplies flash memory and liquid crystal displays.

Apple's latest legal action is similar to a suit filed over a year ago against HTC. In that complaint, Apple accused HTC of infringing on 20 iPhone-related patents, and cited Google Android-powered handsets including the Nexus One.

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said in a statement that accompanied the HTC lawsuit. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Apple is also engaged in a high-profile legal battle with another major rival, Nokia. Apple has sued Nokia, and is also being sued in an ongoing patent infringement suit.

I'm with Apple if only for the fact Samsung aped the shit out of the iOS with both 'Touch Wiz' and the Galaxy Tab interface. Samsung went Shanzhai -- I can appreciate the good work being done by HTC. You don't have to be derivative to succeed in this market.

I totally understand how the galaxy s is a total rip off of the 3GS and the galaxy tab interface looks kind of like the iPad because of the touchwiz software....

But Nexus S? Are you joking? Different material, completely different look apart from having a touch screen, no 'home' physical button, it doesn't even have touchwiz on it so the software looks totally different.

Including the Nexus S just shows that this is a bargaining move on apples part.

I wish technology companies would stop using law suits as a business plan. They could spend this money so much better in other ways....

No, but seriously, Samsung has an incredible case of iPhone, iPad design envy. Right down to the shiny metallic bezel around the touch screen. At least the Acer Iconia touchscreen laptop and Microsoft Courier concept were unique.

Is this a proxy battle over Android or are they really suing about the "look and feel" of Samsung products (regardless of OS)?

Also, I wonder if Apple is trying to force Samsung to choose between being a supplier to Apple and selling their own tablets/phones. If forced to choose, I bet Samsung would give up being a supplier to Apple. They might make more money supplying Apple today, but I'm sure they fancy themselves as something more than that.

More like the lawsuit ends with Samsung being found at fault but rather than a cash payout they are allowed to pay via discount.

Like it or not, Apple was granted a look and feel patent and several sites have noted that Samsung has copied that look and feel to make their goods. Whereas Microsoft did a totally different look. I personally think a hella ugly one but at least it is original.

As for the claims that Samsung will drop Apple as a customer. Doubtful. First all there are likely contracts in place and they would be sued again for breach. Second, Samsung knows where their real money lies. And that is in parts

You don't patent your designs only to sit back and let the world illegal use them. Sorry, but your company deserves it's investment be protected.

You have no idea just how warped, convoluted, and backward the US patent system has become, do you? Patents aren't about protecting real innovation anymore. They're about accumulating as many broad, nebulous, and slightly differing patents as you possibly can for the SOLE purpose of suing someone for it. Patents now exist to screw everyone else over, not to protect your own work. If you invent something, you'd better have a horde of lawyers to write a hundred patents a day or someone else might come along and write a ton of patents that will box yours in and essentially make it impossible for you to produce and sell yours without getting sued because they just covered every slight derivative (prior art requires you to have essentially the EXACT same implementation. Slight differentiations will make prior art useless), every possible alternate use, and every method of manufacturing it. If ever you manage to make it big in the world of computers, then you will have to deal with a bunch of patent trolls crawling out of the woodwork with some ludicrously broad and obvious patent trying to take what you have rightfully earned.

When companies exist for the sole purpose of acquiring patents and suing with them then you know the patent system is completely broken. Patent troll companies contribute NOTHING whatsoever to society. They only exist to steal from others.

Apple is just as guilty of patent abuse as everyone else in the industry.

Like it or not, Apple was granted a look and feel patent and several sites have noted that Samsung has copied that look and feel to make their goods. Whereas Microsoft did a totally different look.

So ironic that Microsoft, the original "look and feel" copycat, is the only iPhone competitor with a truly unique and original design to it. Good for them. Perhaps they learned their lesson in the 90s?

samsung tab 10.1 weighs less and is thinner than ipad 2. Has Android 3 on it.
Apple sh**s itself and launches lawsuit.

Yeah, apple is totally $hitting itself. Their world is collapsing around them. They're F'd and their only hope is this lawsuit. Dude, look at the image on engadget's post regarding this lawsuit. Apple's patent vs. Samsung product. Shameless, pathetic copying.

It doesn't matter if you are Apple fan or not, but the truth is pre-iPhone era, every phone company has their own style. After iPhone introduced, all the smartphones looked like iphone, except Japanese who are still producing tons of clam-shell phones. Phone makers know iPhone design works, cuz it sells! so they copied. And they cant write good OS to compete, so they turn to Android for lower R&D. The only way they can still survive is trying to make the tech specs better than iphone. If you take a quick glance at Samsung's cellphone website (http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones), it's like a website with tons of iPhone-siblings.

It's true that there are many ridiculous patents, especially in software, but it's equally true that in this case one company (Apple) single-handedly introduced an extremely innovative product in the mobile space and another company (Google) blatantly copied them and then released that software to other companies (Samsung, HTC, et al) in a way that has made them liable for any patent infringements. It's easy to say, in retrospect, that Apple's innovations were "obvious", especially if you've never had an innovative idea in your life and therefore have no idea how difficult and laborious the process is, but if they were obvious then there wouldn't be such a stark contrast in design between pre-iPhone smart phones and post-iPhone smart phones. In reality, the Apple iPhone caught all these companies off guard and was so innovative that it was first met with incredulity. This is an example where IP laws should protect the innovator. Rarely do you see an example of such complete and far-reaching innovation by a single company or an example of such blatant copying by a competitor.

So ironic that Microsoft, the original "look and feel" copycat, is the only iPhone competitor with a truly unique and original design to it. Good for them. Perhaps they learned their lesson in the 90s?

nope. copying made them the king of the personal computing market. they need to do the same with phone. lol

Yeah, apple is totally $hitting itself. Their world is collapsing around them. They're F'd and their only hope is this lawsuit. Dude, look at the image on engadget's post regarding this lawsuit. Apple's patent vs. Samsung product. Shameless, pathetic copying.

copy or not i hope they at least offer them for sale soon so i can get the tab 8.9

Complete and utter bullshit. Apple didn't make anything here that was truly innovative. They just made very good use of existing ideas and built a product with them.

Just because glass existed doesn't mean forming glass into glassware was not innovative. Because people lived in caves doesn't mean building a hut wasn't innovative.

Everything came out of something before and it is rare these days for someone or some company to create something that is truly new and original

Apple did something considered to be truly innovative with the iPhone. Nothing in the market looked or worked the way the iPhone looked/worked. If you disagree, find a pre-existing mock up of the design, UI and functionality and provide a link to it. I'd be interested in seeing who Apple copied when they came up with the iPhone.

That is a valid action under Copyright and pertains to copying the look and feel of Apple's Graphical User Interface. It also is practically the same lawsuit Apple filed against Microsoft years ago. Apple lost that suit, however, it was because the judge found that although Microsoft used Apple's copyright work, Apple gave Microsoft a license to do so. Apple and Microsoft were partners on Office.

Apple clearly gave no such license to Samsung. Further, Apple's exhibit drives the point home. The GUI is a clear copy of the iPhone and works the same way.

What makes Apple's move interesting is Apple using Samsung for a supplier. Apple either plans to stop using Samsung as a supplier or force a settlement with Samsung perhaps by getting a discount on parts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seankill

I normally agree with apple on most of their lawsuits. This one seems a bit general. "copy the look and feel".

go get them mother******* Apple.
I love competition too but everyone is out to steal Apple's swag.
Sony kicked a** with the psp and I love that machine.
Do your own thing.
And just you wait until Apple brings. out their own TV and the ipad 3. Jesus!
All hell will break loose.

The iPhone and iPad are now the crown jewels of Apple. Of course they need to defend them.

I'm concerned that as competition gets more fierce we'll see more suits like this. Ignoring whether this specific case has any merit, overall US patent policies are f'd-up with no sign of a fix in sight. When US businesses feel the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to protect themselves from frivolous patent infringement suits it's no wonder that funds for real innovative engineering and design can be hard to come by.

That is a valid action under Copyright and pertains to copying the look and feel of Apple's Graphical User Interface. It also is practically the same lawsuit Apple filed against Microsoft years ago. Apple lost that suit, however, it was because the judge found that although Microsoft used Apple's copyright work, Apple gave Microsoft a license to do so. Apple and Microsoft were partners on Office.

Apple clearly gave no such license to Samsung. Further, Apple's exhibit drives the point home. The GUI is a clear copy of the iPhone and works the same way.

What makes Apple's move interesting is Apple using Samsung for a supplier. Apple either plans to stop using Samsung as a supplier or force a settlement with Samsung perhaps by getting a discount on parts.

Samsung is like IBM, a collection of separate corporations underneath it's umbrella. There is no jump to another supplier as the group that provides IPS and Memory are different from the consumer electronics companies.

I'm concerned that as competition gets more fierce we'll see more suits like this. Ignoring whether this specific case has any merit, overall US patent policies are f'd-up with no sign of a fix in sight. When US businesses feel the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to protect themselves from frivolous patent infringement suits it's no wonder that funds for real innovative engineering and design can be hard to come by.

Stupid. . . if you can't beat 'em, just sue 'em.

You don't spend hundreds, if not billions in development for your products, then patent the resulting research only to not defend them. If you don't defend them those patents become null and void.

Complete and utter bullshit. Apple didn't make anything here that was truly innovative. They just made very good use of existing ideas and built a product with them. Multitouch was demonstrated long before Apple used it. Accelerometers were used before Apple built the iPhone. You might as well say that Apple ripped off previous smartphone/PDA devices by using the icon grids and multiple screens containing them.

I don't think that YOU have ever had an innovative idea in your life and don't even know what one is. Get your lips off Apple's ass long enough to take a look at reality. I love my iPhone, but I'm not going to pretend that it's a huge, groundbreaking innovation. It isn't. It's just a very good use of existing ideas packaged in a simple-to-use device. Try getting over your obvious pro-Apple bias and take a look at reality.

Apple is very good at building on existing ideas, making a solid product out of them, and calling it innovation when it's usually little more than just polish and the smart addition of a few new features. Xerox PARC, anyone?

Actually the other guys argument is stronger than yours. He is right in this case. All of the parts separated doesn't make an innovative product. it's the combination that Apple put together to make an innovative product. Now almost all of the new smart phones coming out try to mimmic Iphone. Before everyone was trying to mimmic BB. Now everyone is trying to mimmic the Iphone/Ipad. These items really did re-define the smartphone and tablet markets and no one can honestly say they didn't. Apple and Apple alone changed the game. That's just the fact.